Thanks to the extraordinary work of police on the scene, last month’s storming of the Capitol saw “only” five fatalities, one of whom was not a rioter. But as we now know, former Vice President Mike Pence was seconds, not minutes, from the rioters getting their hands on him. Republicans have tried to justify acquitting former President Donald Trump not on the merits of his actions but with the argument that convicting a former president in an impeachment trial is unconstitutional.

Yet given how close the former vice president was from the clutches of armed mob members chanting that they would hang him, it’s worth asking the question: How the hell could Republicans justify acquitting Trump if the mob had succeeded in executing his most loyal follower?